Preliminary plans for the Uintah Bluffs housing development on the ridge above Bristol Elementary are being shown to neighbors prior to a formal submission to
Colorado Springs Planning.
The tentative proposal calls for 29 duplex lots on 11.6 acres, most of which would be left as open space. Included would be access from the property to Bristol Park
(next to the school) and an eight-car trailhead parking lot next to the sole vehicle access off Manitou Boulevard.
One meeting has been held so far with the neighborhood and another with representatives from the Organization of Westside Neighbors (OWN). Another
neighborhood meeting will need to be scheduled, according to City Planner James Mayerl.
One common question at the meetings has been what the duplexes will look like, with requests that they be as compatible as possible with the older Westside. But this
question cannot be answered yet because the Craddock Companies, which seeks to develop the property, will not be doing the building. That aspect would be
contracted out once a development plan including lot locations is approved by the city, developer Matt Craddock explained in a recent interview.
He said the neighborhood meetings have been helpful so far. “Suggestions from OWN and the various folks who spoke will get incorporated into what we tell the
builder,” he said.
Comments about the development came from neighbors Julie Degiacomi and Ivars Mankovs at the Jan. 25 OWN board meeting. Although they expressed no
opposition to the development concept, they said that they and others who live nearby are worried about increased traffic on Manitou Boulevard.
The plan was first presented to the City Parks Advisory Board last fall, which conceptually approved a swap by which the city would receive the Bristol Park access
from the developer and the developer would get the access through Parks-managed City Utilities open space off Manitou Boulevard.